Middle East & North Africa




Student performance in Qatar has                   been
steadily improving in all three subjects.
•   Scores in every subject have moved above the                                 MATHE-   READING   SCIENCE
    MENA average. Yet, student performance is                                    MATICS
    roughly 2.5 years of schooling1 below the OECD
    average.
•   For all subjects, student proficiency levels have
    improved over the last decade. Still, half of the
    students do not meet the basic proficiency level,
    which places them at risk of exclusion.

What may be driving student performance?
•   Socioeconomic        background:        There    are
    differences equivalent to nearly 2 years of
    schooling between students at the top and low
    income quintiles.
•   School type and location: The performance of
    students in private schools is roughly 2.5 years of
    schooling ahead of their public school
    counterparts, while differences equivalent to one
    year of schooling exist between students in urban
    and rural schools.
•   Preschool: The performance of students who
    attended preschool is one year of schooling ahead
    of those with no preschool education.
•   Gender Gap: Girls outperform boys in all
    subjects, with a particularly wide gap in Reading
    that is worth roughly 1.5 years of schooling.
•   School & Classroom: Students in the top quintile
                                                            Science PISA Score




    of the Sense of Belonging Index2 are 2 years of
    schooling ahead of those in the bottom quintile.
    Closely related is the Disciplinary Climate Index2,
    for which the difference in scores between the top
    and bottom quintiles is of 2.5 years of schooling.
•   Teachers:       Teacher-Directed    Instruction2   is
    associated with better student performance (56
    points difference in Science scores between the top
    and bottom quintiles in this Index).
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                                                                                PISA is the OECD’s benchmarking tool to assess
     •        Reimbursable Advisory Service project                             achievement and application of key knowledge and
              with Ministry of Development Planning                             skills of 15 year-olds. PISA tests proficiency in
              and Statistics for a Review of the National                       mathematics, reading, science, and problem-solving.
              Education Strategy.                                               It was launched in 2000 and is conducted every
     •        Reimbursable Advisory Service project                             three years, with a focus on one of the subjects in
              with Qatar Foundation (WISE Initiative)                           each round. In 2015, the focus is on Science. The
              for a Study on Early Childhood                                    test was taken by representative samples from 72
              Development in Qatar                                              countries, including nearly 540,000 students. Six
                   3                                                            MENA countries participated in this PISA round:
     •        SABER-ECD (ongoing)                                               Algeria, Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, Tunisia and the
                                                                                United Arab Emirates.
         3   Systems Approach for Better Education Results



Note: In 2015, the OECD introduced several improvements to the design, administration, and scaling of PISA. For the most part, these changes did not
affect the comparability of the 2015 results with those for previous assessments. For further information and implications for analyses of PISA data, please
consult the PISA 2015 international report. Source: OECD, 2016. PISA 2015 Results (Volume 1): Excellence and Equity in Education. Paris: OECD.